Kitchen-reminder.



F. A. BERTRAM.

KITCHEN REMINDER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1913.

201 Patented July 22, 1913.

WITNESSES 3 )[A-d ATTORNEYS FREDERICK A. IBERTRAM, OF YORK, N. Y.

KITCHEN-REMINDER.

Specification 0! Letters Yatent.

Patented July 22, 1913.

Application filed January 10. 1913. Serial No. 741,206.

'0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Fania-anon A. Bun- THAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Kitchen-Reminder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

Mv invention relates to improvements in kitchen utensils designed to enable the cook or housewife to keep herself informed of the state of the pantry, and to remind her when the supply of a given commodity or grocery is running low and is in danger of being exhausted. To this end I have provided my invention with a number of relatively movable members on which the names of various articles for domestic use and consumption are inscribed, the position of one or more of these members indicating when the supply of the given article should be replenished.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which the same characters of reference indicate the same parts in both the views.

Figure 1 is a front view of my invention; and Fig. 2 is a transverse horizontal sectional view of the same.

My invention comprises a plate 1 having apertures 2 therethrough to permit the same to be nailed to a wall. The face of this plate may present any suitable design and it carries thereon the names of well-known articles of culinary use arranged in two vertical columns side by side, as indicated in Fig. l. The color of the plate and the color of the letters forming the names are different, so that the latter stand out boldly and can be readily deciphered. The plate is formed with two pairs of bearings 3 carrying rods 4 extending adjacent the lateral edges of the plate, and upon these rods are pivotally mounted a number of flat arms 5; These arms may have their inner faces 6 colored the same as the face of the plate 1, but their outer faces 7 are colored different, and their outer faces also carry the names of groceries or other supplies which are indicated upon the face of the plate 1 in the manner above noted. I have shown the inner faces 6 of the arms 5 as white and the outer faces as blue, with the lettering thereon white to make the same conspicuous.

Each arm will carry the name of the grocery or other article which is indicated directly opposite the same upon the face of the plate 1, and it will be apparent that when the arms are turned inward to cover the names on the plate 1, the fact that a full supply of a given article is on hand will be indicated, and when the arms are turned outward so as to uncover one of the names on the face of the plate 1, this position of the arm will make known the fact that the supply of that article is exhausted or nearly exhausted, so that the housewife or cook can attend to the purchase of a fresh supply at once.

By making the outer faces of the arms 5 of a color that is different from the color of the face of the plate 1, attention will be more readily attracted to the fact. that the supply of a certain article is almost consumed. This is because, when all the arms are folded over against the plate 1, they will form two unbroken columns differingin color from the color of the face of the plate. As shown on the drawings, these two columns will be blue, and each column will be practically continuous, except for the short spaces between adjacent arms, and the cook or housewife will move all of the arms I) to folded-down position whenever there is afull supply of everything on hand. In case the supply of one of the articles should run low or be entirely used up the corresponding arm is turned outward, and this produces a break in the blue column, exposing a space of substantially the same area as the turnedout arm and of a different color from the remainder of the column. This space attracts attention by contrast, and the housewife is more apt to be reminded of the state of things for that reason. Each arm 5 has a curved cut made in its outer end and the portion adjacent this cut is bent outward to form a lug or finger hold. This lug or finger hold permits the arms to be more readily manipulated.

At the bottom of the plate 1 is formed a match box 9. This match box contributes to the utility and efliciency of the invention, because every time a match is needed the cook or housewife will bebbliged to go to the box for one, and as the reminding device with its columns of names and indicating arms is directly above the box the cook or housewife will be forced to recollect which one of the articles named on the plate 1 must be replenished every time a match is taken.

My invention is of course of great use in country districts where the houses are often located at great distances from stores, and, it is important that a grocery or other commodity should be replaced as soon as the same is exhausted.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A kitchen reminder embodying a plate having printed thereon a plurality of rows of names indicating diflerent commodities in prominent form, pivots carried by the plate outwardly of the rows of names, and

a plurality of plate-like arms pivoted to said pivots and having their inner ends curved inwardly and provided adjacent thereto with out-turned lugs, said inturned portions holding the arms spacedfrom the plate and the arms having indicated thereon in less prominent form the names of commodities similar to those carried by the plate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK A. BERTRAM. 

